What the Fork

Beauty’s Bagel Shop Says: “Please Don’t Forget Us”

The Express has been sounding the air horn on Beauty’s Bagel Shop for almost a year, since shortly after Delfina chef Blake Joffe and his partner Amy Remsen started baking Montreal-style bagels at Addie’s Pizza Pie in Berkeley. More recently, the Wall Street Journal, Bon Appetit, and Sunset have also given shout-outs. There's just one problem: Beauty’s shop still hasn't opened, and Remsen is afraid people are losing patience.

“I’m pretty sure we’ll be open within a month,” she said. “But we’ve been saying that for so long, it's probably hard to believe us now.”

Beauty’s moonlight operation at Addie’s was supposed to be a short-term arrangement, where they would bake enough bagels to supply Wise Sons and Saul’s until they got their own storefront. But every step of the way has been unexpectedly time-consuming and laborious, from finding a suitable location and getting the right permits, to securing enough funding.

Now they have a space – at 3838 Telegraph in Oakland (former home of Sushi Plus) – and they have the permits, but they’re still waiting for final loan approvals. Remsen worries that by the time they are operational, nobody will care about Beauty’s anymore.

I told her not to worry. The Bay Area has suffered through years without enough bagel options; we can wait a little while longer. For updates on Beauty’s progress, check Facebook.